Another site more tuned to the Philippines still filled with a bit of eclectic content of things I cover and report on from Manila....

Tuesday, May 02, 2006

Report speaks of ewarl;ier blog I put up last night- sources of mine on Palawan report WESCOM in Palawan are alerted to report and are investigating:

AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE REPORT/

RP boat tagged in deadly attack on Chinese fishermeBEIJING- A Philippine boat is believed to be behind an attack on a Chinese fishing vessel in the South China Sea that ended with four crew members dead and three wounded, state press said Tuesday.

"The incident occurred close to the Philippines and the boat that attacked the fishing boat... resembled a Philippine boat," the Southern Daily newspaper reported, citing crew members aboard the Chinese fishing boat.

The attack occurred Thursday last week in the disputed Spratly Islands when people from the unidentified boat sprayed the fishing vessel with sub-machine gun fire and boarded the craft.

Four crew members were killed in the attack, with the assailants stealing the boat's navigational and electronic equipment.

"Of the 13 pirates who boarded the fishing boat, most were under the age of 30, six of them wore camouflage clothes while the other seven were casually dressed," the fishermen told the newspaper.

"The attack appeared to be organized."

The report gave no other details to back up its assertion that the boat resembled one from the Philippines.

The Chinese boat, the Jinghai 03012, has since returned to its home base on China's southern Hainan island with the three wounded crew members in a stable condition, the paper said.

According to the Beijing Youth Daily, China's foreign ministry has called for an immediate investigation into the killings and urged countries neighboring the South China Sea to ensure the "personal safety of Chinese fishermen engaged in normal work".

The Spratly Islands consist of more than 100 small islands or reefs that are claimed partially or entirely by China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia, and the Philippines. AFP